Trever O'Hoy was the President and CEO of Foster's Group from 2004 until 10 June 2008... (wikipedia)
While Foster's scale and efficiency sees us better placed than anyone from a production perspective, the (Australian) market is struggling to absorb the huge volumes of wine that are discounting and squeezing sales margins.
While its early days, full-year earnings for wine are on track. Expect momentum to build in the second half.
The Australian wine consumer represents less than 15 per cent of our profit pool,
Let me assure you that I am not satisfied making $40-$50 million on the same volume of beer (as) CUB sells.
An extremely competitive retail market is pushing extensive discounting and large volumes of wine at low prices, and New World competitors from South America and South Africa are also impacting on the market.
After a year of transformation Foster's Group sits at the doorstep of a period of sustained strong earnings growth.